30 Days of Science - Day 13

I shouldn't have to buy diapers anymore, but I still do.  It's all for fun though.  Diapers make really fun science projects/ magic tricks.

You know the game where you take three cups, put a ball under one, and then move them around a lot trying to get the observer to loose track of the ball?  Well, instead of a ball, try something similar with diapers.

Diaper Science

1. Get three cups (make sure they aren't see through).
   Have your audience sitting down, because if they are standing they might be able to see in the cups. 
2. Before you show anyone what you are doing, cut open a diaper and put the soft stuff inside the diaper into one of the cups. You don't need a lot, I usually use half of the diaper stuff (for lack of a better word). 
3. I like to stack the cups together, and then bring the cups to my audience. I stack the cup with the diaper stuff on top because if it were stacked on the bottom or middle, you could tell there was something in the cup.
4. Have your audience sitting down, because if they are standing they might be able to see in the cups.
5. Pour quite a bit of water into the cup with the diaper stuff.   I use 12 oz cups and fill them about 3/4 full (or half full for a 16 oz cup).  Your audience should not know there is anything other than water in the cup. 
6. Start moving the cups around and tell your audience to keep their eyes on the cup with the water in it. 
7. When you are finished mixing the cups around, have the audience guess where the water is.  Each time they guess, you take the cup and hold it up to pour the water out.  Each time you attempt to pour the water out of each cup, nothing will pour out making it appear as if the water disappeared.  The magic (science) is that the diaper stuff is made up of water absorbing polymers.  When you are moving the cups around, the water is quickly being absorbed by the polymers.  When you attempt to pour the water out, it doesn't pour out because the water and polymers have expanded together enough they don't pour out easily.  Fun! 

Remember we talked about water absorbing polymers before on day seven?  Don't forget about how this type of science can be used to conserve water in the environment.  It's neat stuff!